


Lightening Strikes

by The_Shy_One



Series: Lancelot fics [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 08:45:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11309874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: Lance hesitated for a moment before making his way back to the Galra. A pocket knife he had on him when the team decided to go looking for the Blue Lion sat on the beside table and he made a grab for it.Lotor could only stare as Lance took his hands and cut the restrainments for a few minutes. When his hands were free, he looked them over for any scrapes or bruises before looking up at the Paladin. Lance only gave him a smile and then made his way to the bathroom. Lotor could feel the small spots on his cheeks flitter at the action that was so small and yet felt so big at the same time.





	Lightening Strikes

Lance knew how quiet the ship got at night. He often went for walks when he couldn’t get to sleep easily. It quieted his mind as he made his way around the the various corridors and pathways. Often, it took one lap around the ship to get him to feel sleepy, but there were times when sleep wasn’t coming and he made multiple rounds around the castle. On those nights he made his way to the observatory deck.

Tonight was one of those nights. He peered into the room, making sure that there wasn’t anyone in there. He knew there wouldn’t be anyone there, but he didn’t want to talk to anyone when he was having a restless night. The questions of why he was up and their prodding to make him talk about what’s bothering him wasn’t something he wanted to face.

The dead of night always brought out secrets that nobody ever wanted to share.

The observatory deck was empty. The space was only filled with the glow of the stars shining in through the window. They twinkled against a portion of the wall, reminding Lance of the aquarium he once visited when he was young. The only difference was the sight, filled to the brim with stars and galaxies. The beauty of the universe never ceases to amaze Lance. It also made him wish he wasn’t here for a war.

He sat down on one of the benches and set his sight to what was outside the window. Every time he did this in the night, the sight was different. Still there was always a galaxy that was shining with colours and stars that always outshined the last one.

Taking a deep breath, Lance continued to stare out into the window. The ship moved slowly through the vast universe, letting the starlight bathe the rooms and its inhabitants. 

And then the sound of the castle’s alarm went off. Lance felt his body jolt at the loud sound and his heart speed up for a moment. He gripped the underside of the bench, hoping he could get rid of his momentary fear this way.

“Paladins, report to the bridge.” Allura said, her voice surprisingly not filled with sleep. Lance continued to wonder how people like her can just wake up at a moment’s notice.

Giving a sigh, he stood up and made his way to the bridge. Something obviously went wrong to warrant the team’s assistance. From what Shiro told them after coming back from a mission that forced him to leave the princess, she had enough strength to hold her own in battle.

When getting close to the bridge he was met with Hunk and Pidge who looked like they would murder anyone who dared to talk to them. Especially Pidge, who had bags under her eyes that were driving Lance crazy. He could offer to help her with them as he found something similar to the cream he had back on earth. It worked just as well.

But he never brought it up. While the team tolerated his skincare routine, he didn’t know if they would appreciate his good-natured advice. The small voice in the back of his mind said that they would say something about this being war and that looking their best wasn’t a high priority.

They shuffled their way into the bridge, met with a sight of a Galra who was tied up by the feet and hands, surrounded by Allura, Coran, and Shiro. 

The unknown Galra had the same purple skin as the ones that team came across, but it looked healthier, having a shine to it that Lance was sure was care products. His ears were smaller than normal Galran ears, but Lance bet that they could still hear better than any of his team mates. But his hair was definitely not Galra. It was a shock of white and it fell down the Galra’s back. It just had to have been done by a professional beautician.

The outfit he wore was a space suits of sorts and he had a cape attached to it, making Lance note that he could be in a high military position. His eyes were mostly yellow with black pupils. They watched the paladins as they made their way towards Shiro. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end when he noticed the Galra watch him closer than the others. Lance brushed it off as him being tired and only focusing on minute details.

He also noticed that Keith wasn’t anywhere in sight, making Lance assume he was running up from the training room. Shiro ordered that until all team members were here that they should take a seat. Pidge grumbled under her breath at the statement and Hunk looked like he would fall asleep in his chair. 

For a minute, everything was quiet in the room. Hunk was dozing off, Pidge was staring off through the window and Shiro and Allura were talking quietly among themselves. Lance was trying not to squirm with how the Galra was staring at him. He peeked from the corner of his eye, seeing the Galra tilt his head in curiosity, giving him an innocent look.

And the smile. Lance spotted fangs that all Galra had, most likely for show more than predatory hunting. But the way these two were incorporated on this individual Galra made it seem he was always on the hunt. 

Lance was forced from his thoughts when Keith came barreling through the door. Hunk’s head snapped up and he looked even more tired than when he first got there. Pidge just scowled at the noise. 

“Nice you to join us, Keith.” Allura said. She made a motion towards his chair and he took the hint. 

Once he was seated, Shiro stood up and spoke to the group. “Paladins, I’m sorry you were forced out your beds, but it seems what the Princess found has to be dealt with immediately.”

“Oh good. I hoped to be woken up for tea and cookies.” Pidge said sarcastically. Her eyes blazed like mini fires for being woken up unexpectedly and the bags under them further proved that. Shiro only sent her an apologetic smile before continuing.

“It seems that we had an intruder in the Castle who was searching for the Lions. Allura said that he is Prince Lotor, the son of Zarkon, and that he may be a spy for Haggar.”

The prince only rolled his eyes at the statement, as if it was absurd for him to be a spy. Lance only glanced for a moment, wanting to see if he could spot any physical similarities between the Prince and Zarkon. Then Lotor caught him doing so, throwing a dashing smile his way. Lance quickly shifted his gaze to another part of the room.

“I would say it would be a devious of Haggar to make me do something like that,” Lotor said finally, “but as it turns out I don’t love nor respect my father the same way the rest of his military does. Might I suggest the possibility of me coming here to get rid of his empire with your help? Or would that be too good a thing for a Galra to do?” His voice had a low gravel-like quality to it, making you want to listen to what he had to say.

“We accept all realistic possibilities, not ones you want us to believe.” Allura said coldly. 

“Alright, alright. Princess, let’s not turn this into a fight. We’re here to discuss what we will do with the intruder, not pick fights.” Shiro said. The glare he sent to the both of them silenced any protests they may have had.

“We could keep watch over him in shifts with one to two people at a time. It would be better than just assigning him to a prison cell.” Pidge spoke up. Lance and Hunk nodded in agreement, while Shiro and Allura seemed to consider the idea.

Keith spoke up, looking like a cat that had been bothered by a small child too many times. “Wouldn’t that make it easier for him to manipulate one of us if we did that? Especially if he tried to fight his way out. There’s was only one person watching over him.”

“Would you rather him have a poorly escape where the team can come at a moment’s notice or give him time to plan every single detail to himself in a cell?” Pidge said, giving Keith a pointed glare. He scowled at her and was about to say something when Lance cut in.

“I agree with Pidge on this. While Lotor maybe stronger than one or two of us at a time, he can’t take down five humans and two Alteans at the same time. He wouldn’t have much of a get away if he was watched over constantly.”

The room went silent with everyone considering both Pidge’s and Lance’s words on the idea. Lance looked over at Lotor to see the Galra just smiling brightly at him. His hearted stuttered at the sight and he could feel a blush crawling its way onto his face as he turned his head away.

“While I may not like Lotor to be here, the idea from Lance and Pidge seems like a much better option than keeping him in a cell.” Allura said. “We will have to take some time to arrange the schedule that will benefit us the most, but for now we all take a day shift with him until it is sorted out.”

Shiro breathed out a sigh of relief while Pidge and Hunk made their way towards the door of the room. Keith scowled slightly at Lotor, but stayed in his seat. Lance stood up to follow his friends, but stopped when he felt somebody caught his arm. Looking back he saw Allura holding his arm and Lotor behind her with nothing on his feet keeping him from moving. His hands were still tied up, but Lance doubted that the restrainment would be on for much longer.

Lotor stood quietly, looking down at his hands. The prince was about two heads taller than Allura, making him much more threatening with height alone. 

“Yes, Princess?” He asked, glancing between the two.

She smiled at Lance before she spoke. “It seems that while the rest of your teammates are tired or not willing to watch over him while Shiro, Coran and I start to assemble a schedule. Will you be alright with watching over him?”

“I—no, I don’t mind. Just gonna have to figure out what he’ll be sleeping on until tomorrow.” He said, giving her a smile in return. Her smile brightened at his answer and she motioned Lotor to come closer. 

The hair of the prince moved gracefully as he went to Lance’s side. The smile he directed towards Lance could have been considered flirtatious. Lance ducked his head to hide his returning blush and carefully grabbed Lotor’s arm.

They said nothing to each other as they left the room and went down the halls of the castle. Lance glanced over occasionally, spotting the white hair moving from side to side. He also spotted some flecks of lighter purple on the prince’s face and it made him wonder if it was something similar to freckles. To say that the captured Galra wasn’t a beautiful specimen would be a lie.

When he was caught staring, the prince just smiled at him. It was as if he was used to people staring at him for his otherworldly looks. Lance just forced himself not to look in his direction again. He didn’t need to give the Galra any ideas about why Lance kept staring at him.

They made it to Lance’s room and he let go of the captured prince. Lotor stepped into the room and looked around. Lance made his way over to a compartment he found under his bed and pulled out more blankets and pillows that were stored in there.

“You’re gonna have to sleep on the floor until we find something else.” Lance said as he started to pile blankets on the floor to make it semi-comfortable.

“While it may seem like I never went outside for anything other than show, I have gone on a few outings with my father when he felt like being a loving parent.” Lotor said. “He said it was for my own benefit that I know how to rough it if it ever came to it.”

“It sounds like my dad’s excuse to drag me and my siblings camping when he did something bad that my mom found out about.” Lance said, chuckling. 

As he placed the pillows on the makeshift bed, he saw from the corner of his eye that Lotor tilted his head, looking puzzled.

“I know our family life isn’t the same, I just wanted to cheer you up a bit. If what you’re saying is true, then I don’t want to make an enemy in the castle with someone taller and stronger than me.” He said. “Anyway your bed is made for the night. Hopefully it isn’t too hard on your back.”

As Lance moved over to the connected bathroom to change into his pajamas, he heard the rustling of blankets. He glanced back for a moment and saw the prince with his hands still tied up as he tried to get under the blankets. Lance hesitated for a moment before making his way back to the Galra. A pocket knife he had on him when the team decided to go looking for the Blue Lion sat on the beside table and he made a grab for it.

Lotor could only stare as Lance took his hands and cut the restrainments for a few minutes. When his hands were free, he looked them over for any scrapes or bruises before looking up at the Paladin. Lance only gave him a smile and then made his way to the bathroom. Lotor could feel the small spots on his cheeks flitter at the action that was so small and yet felt so big at the same time.

____________________________________________________

Lance woke up to the sound of humming. He was facing the wall that his bed was beside and he took his time to gain back his senses from going to sleep so late. He continued to hear the humming, but as he woke up further, he noticed the humming had a rhythm to it. 

It almost sounded like a lullabye.

Lance turned his body over and saw Lotor sitting at the mirror that Lance had gotten a while ago. He had begged both Allura and Coran to let him have it in his room. They had caved in and there it sat, always waiting for Lance to use when he didn’t feel like going into his bathroom to do his skin care routine. 

Lotor sat in front of it with various creams open and he looked to be halfway done with putting on the mask. He continued to hum the tune, lost in a daily routine. Lance stared for a couple of more minutes, unsure if he should interrupt.

“I noticed you staring when you turned over. I must say I’m impressed with the selection of skin care products you’ve manage to collect, including this one.” Lotor said, holding up one of the bottles. Lance bashfully looked away. 

“It was a dash grab for that one when I heard it was compatible for my skin.” He admitted.

“I would have been the same if I was in the same situation. It’s rare to find this kind of product outside the Galra Empire.”

“Well I better cherish it while I have it.” Lance said as he got up. Lotor gave a nod towards him as he passed by to the bathroom. They didn’t see each other until Lance finished up his daily routine which included the face mask.

He walked out of the bathroom with it on, having a few minutes until he needed to take it off. Lotor was brushing out his long hair, taking time to brush each section. He was humming a different tune while Lance dressed up in his paladin armor. It was a slow sounding tune, most likely to lull someone to sleep.

Lance looked over to see the Galra’s hair brushed to perfect, shining under the lights of the room. Lotor looked over his shoulder and gave Lance a soft smile. In his mind, he compared it to the soft rays of sunlight as it first came over the horizon.

“We better get moving once I get this off my face.” Lance said, looking away from the prince. Lotor hummed in agreement and stood up. Lance made his way to the bathroom and fought to keep the blush that was trying to form on his face.

He washed his skin of the face mask and then made his way out of his room. Lotor followed up behind him. They made their way to the dining room where he saw Keith sitting at the table looking at Hunk make breakfast. Pidge was at her seat, draping the upper half of her body on the table. She mumbled a good morning towards Lance before going quiet again.

“Good morning you two. Hope there wasn’t a scuffle.” Lance heard behind him. Shiro made his way to the table, giving Keith a ruffle through his hair and Pudge a touch to the shoulder.

“Nothing to report commander.” Lance said with an easy smile. He went to his seat, stomach grumbling about being feed. He noticed when Lotor didn’t join beside him.

Looking behind him, he saw the prince looking hesitant about joining the team. Despite the taller height over all of them and the fact he could take on Allura in a fight, he looked like a lost child who didn’t have a parent to cling too. The darting eyes and the subtle way he shifted on his feet, it tugged at Lance’s heart. It reminded him of his shy younger cousins who wanted to join in the fun, but didn’t exactly know how.

He did what he always did with those cousins.

“Hey come and join us. Bet we can get Keith to leave the table before breakfast is over.” Lance said putting on his confident smile. 

It only took Lotor a moment to look confused before he came over to sit besides Lance. From the corner of his eye, he saw Keith scowling at him and the small smile Shiro had towards him.

The two of them teased Keith mercilessly during the meal. Lance started it by talking about how Keith should trim his hair if he wanted to grow it out so long. Lotor joined in by saying he knew the best place that could cut hair that was being wasted on those who didn’t know how to take care of it.

Pidge would join in when she could. The terrorizing two had become three. Shiro put a stop to it when Keith was about to start a fight with Lotor.

“Alright. As much fun as it is to tease him about his hair, you gotta stop. I don’t need to stop a fight this early in the morning.”

“Yes, commander Shiro.” Pidge and Lance said at the same time.

“And stop calling me commander.” Shiro said with a sigh.

Lance and Pidge cackled at the statement before settling down. Keith still shot both him and Lotor scowls. Lance knew he would regret teasing him later when they had to train by having one on one battles with each other, but it was so worth the pain that’ll come later.

“At least his hair looks decent without doing to it. I would hate to see the rat’s nest it could have been if it didn’t.” Lotor whispered into Lance’s ear. For a moment Lance tried to keep his laughter from bubbling out. Then when Keith looked over at him again, with the same scowl, he burst out into laughter.

Lotor smirked at the sight of the rest of the team giving Lance odd looks while he continued to laugh. It was a nice sound. One that Lotor wanted to happen more often.

________________________________________

Lotor sat a short distance away from where practice between paladins was taking place. Often he wanted to saying something about the red paladin’s footwork when he fought the others, seeing as he spent most of his life training with the blade. But figured his imput would only fall on deaf ears. 

He did enjoy watching Lance battle though. Even if he was untrained in most areas of combat, he had a glint in his eyes that said he was a step or two ahead of his training partner.

It was when Allura made a passing comment to the red paladin that the prince might be able to help him break from his bad habits, he sighed internally. Lotor got up from his spot and walked over to the both of them. Allura gave him a look that he choose to interpret as he might not be so untrustworthy.

When Allura turned away to talk to Coran, the red paladin gave him a scowl and then raised a hand to make a slicing motion across his neck. Lotor gave him a warning with the bear of his teeth and a bit of a growl. He would not be treated that way when he was the teacher of a brat that had less experience on the battlefield than him.

Given a Altean training blade, he stood in front of the red paladin. Lotor made a motion for the other to come at him first. With a calculated gaze, the red paladin tried to go for the side that held his blade. He quickly stopped the blade and pushed it away. Then he took a swipe at the paladin, earning a non lethal hit.

“Always have to make sure to be quicker than your enemy. Otherwise you end up with an injury, or worse, death.” He said, preparing himself into another stance.

“I know that.” The paladin spat at him.

“Then why don’t we practice again?” Lotor said smoothly. 

The paladin growled at the statement and tried to take another swipe at him. He blocked the next few hits, waiting for the paladin to get mad enough to leave an opening for him. When he took another hit at Lotor, the Galra made his move and struck the paladin hard in the ribs.

He watched as the paladin fell to the floor, clutching chest. There was silence in the room other than the red paladin grasping for his next breath. Lotor looked up to see the shocked faces of the paladins, including Lance. Allura and Coran set their expressions to neutral, but Lotor knew they were disappointed in him.

He dropped the practice blade and walked out of the training room. He went a few feet from the door, not wanting to damage his sentence period more than he already has. Lotor could hear the black paladin telling the others that training was over until Keith was checked out. The green and yellow paladin made their way out, only glancing at him briefly.

Coran and the black paladin went past him with Keith towards the medical wing. Allura followed behind them and gave Lotor an angry look. Still he stayed where he was, waiting for Lance to exit the room.

After all, one of them had to watch him.

It was several minutes before Lance came out. He looked tired and could only look at the prince for a moment before looking away. In his mind, Lotor knew it was because of him.

“I’m sorry for what you had to see in there.” He said softly. Lance sighed and looked up towards him.

“I’m the wrong person you’re saying that too. Shouldn’t you be following Keith towards the pods, so you can apologize to him?” Lance asked.

“I would be yelled at by Allura if I were to do such a thing. I’ve done enough damage to our fragile deal. Now I’ll be lucky enough to be near the training deck to even practice to keep up my own skills.” He said bitterly. He looked towards Lance, waiting for a reaction from the smaller being.

“Is there any reason why you pissed off Keith on purpose? Because what I saw in there was not the kind of teaching I would expect from somebody trained for years.” Lance said. His eyes held a fire in them that made Lotor want to tell him the exact reason. But he held back. Details such as that were not meant to be said casually.

“It was how I was taught by my father. It was simply to learn to do it right the first time or never learn at all.”

He forced his eyes away from Lance. He didn’t want to know what the paladin thought of him from a glance. Lotor knew that his upbringing wasn’t as normal as others. He didn’t need any more evidence of that.

It was the hand that took his that stole his breath away. Looking back at Lance, he saw the knowing smile on his face.

“Well I think we learned that Keith won’t try to be so hotheaded with you now. But still, if Allura let’s you teach him again, don’t go too hard on him. We need both of the arms to form Voltron.” Lance said softly. Lotor could feel the spots on his cheeks flutter at the tone.

“I’m sure I can manage to teach him if he doesn’t try to be a brat next time.”

Lance chuckled and then led Lotor away from the training deck. Lotor could feel his heart pounding and the spots still fluttering as they made their way through the castle.

_____________________________________________

For the next few days, Lance watched over Lotor. He knew from his teammates eyes that they didn’t want to be around the prince for what he did to Keith. Even Keith was wary of the Galra, standing a few feet away from him every time he came into a room.

He also noticed the looks they gave him for even being friendly with Lotor. But he just focused on Lotor and not what they thought of the both of them. After hearing why the prince was so harsh with Keith in the training room, he couldn’t help feeling like giving the guy a break. Being raised by a father like Zarkon couldn't have been easy.

So Lance stuck close with the prince, making sure he wasn’t killed in the middle of the night by anyone.

Since nobody wanted to be near them for the time being, Lance got into the habit of eating in his room with the prince. It was relaxing, just talking to Lotor about common interests. From the little hints about the life that Lotor would tell, it was more exciting than Lance could ever imagine.

“My team was off on this little planet that had supplies that Haggar insisted she needed for one of her experiments. Personally I think she wanted me to get away from her.” Lotor said, a small smile on his face.”The planet had such huge plants and animals that could easily crush us if they took a misstep. It was a wonderful experience for my team and I.”

“I’ve only been to a few places on my planet. Man I wish I could travel like that.” Lance said. The few places he had visited on Earth were mostly for family visits that didn’t warrant a lot of free time to explore the area.

“If I still had a ship of my own I would take you to new places. I have a feeling that you would appreciate the beauty of new worlds.” Lotor said with a bright smile. Lance could feel himself blushing slightly at these words.

“That would be nice.” He mumbled.

When they were done with the meal, they made their way to the kitchen to wash their dishes. Well Lance was the one to wash the dishes since Lotor claimed the soap from the castle was atrocious for his skin. It was quiet as they entered the kitchen. Lotor sat at the breakfast nook, while Lance washed and dried the dishes.

“Hey do you think you could teach me how to use a sword?” Lance asked.”I figured it would be good to know how to fight with several types of weapons if I couldn’t use my bayard.”

“It's a good idea to practice with more than one weapon. Makes your battle skills sharper, especially your reaction time.” Lotor said as he stood up.

Lance brightened up at the possibility of being taught something new. “So that’s a yes that you’ll train me?”

“Yes. I will be far more gentle than I was with Keith this time around.” Lotor said with a chuckle. Lance smiled happily and he tugged Lotor towards the exit of the kitchen.

The two of them made their way to the training room. Lance bounced from one foot to the other as he waited for Lotor to get two practice blades. When handed the practice blade, he couldn’t help the grin that came over his face. Testing the weight of the blade, he took a few swipes through the air.

“It's good that you have the energy to learn. Still how about we go slow and learn how to stand properly.” Lotor said, coming close to Lance.”This will be easier to teach to you, since you have some understanding with the way you use your bayard, than it would be teaching a beginner.”

“So easy beginning. Then it gradually becomes harder.” Lance said. Lotor nodded as he went behind the paladin.

“We’ll start from here.” Lotor said, moving Lance’s arms and legs into the correct position. It wasn’t that far off from the stance he would have to take when firing his bayard, but the difference between the stances was enough to know it was for different things.

They spent a good time getting the stances right. Lotor gave him that dashing smile that seemed to make Lance’s heart speed up a bit every time it was directed towards him for doing something right. When Lotor felt that Lance had the stances down, they moved onto using the sword. That was a slower process to get through than the stances. Lance took his time to make sure what he was doing was correct.

Lotor was patient with him, trying not to become his father or the trainers that would forcefully fight him to learn how to survive with a sword. He didn’t want to cause harm to Lance like he did to Keith. That would ruin his chance to get away from his father’s legacy.

When they went through the motions, Lotor then suggested they try to fight each other. He wanted to see where he would have to help Lance improve. They stood across from each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Becoming impatient, Lance took a quick swipe at Lotor’s legs. The Galra moved to block and forced the sword away from him.

He took a jab at the paladin and saw how it was barely blocked. He pushed harder with the sword and saw the beginning signs of Lance’s arm struggling to keep both the sword and him at bay. Lotor pushed a bit more and was met with Lance moving backwards quickly. This caused Lotor to stumbled a bit, leaving an opening for Lance to take advantage of.

Lance moved his hand to push Lotor down and used the sword to take a hit at his side. The prince just took the pain and made a grab at the paladin’s leg, pulling him hard enough to take him down. Lance gave a shriek of surprise as the both of them fell to the floor.

Lance fell on top of Lotor, straddling the Galra around the waist, and could feel the impact of the fall through the tall Galra. His mind didn’t register the position they were in, as they took a moment to process what happened in the fight.

Then Lotor spoke up. “Well I didn’t know you could fight dirty dear.”

The teasing tone of the prince made Lance blush and force his gaze down. He then noticed their position, causing his brain short circuit for a moment. His heart rate sped up faster than he thought possible. All he could do was stammer out excuses as he saw the sly grin on Lotor’s face grow.

“I’m sure it was an accident, but I’m certainly enjoying what our fight has resulted in.” Lotor said teasingly.

“I’m sure you do, but the way my heart is beating is concerning me.” Lance said. He could feel the blush on his face grow hotter and spread to the rest of his body. Still he did nothing to move from their current position.

“How about we give it a reason to beat even more?” Lotor purred out. 

He moved his upper body to met Lance halfway. With how close their faces were, Lance could feel the soft fur that was on Lotor’s face and the small puffs of air on his face. His heart didn’t beat faster, but it was an uncomfortable experience. The only way to slow it down was to kiss the Galra.

The split second decision that Lance did made him quickly press his lips against Lotor’s. He didn’t feel the prince respond for a few more seconds and when he did, it was a pleasant feeling. Lance put his hands up to Lotor’s cheeks, warmth radiating from them. He felt the soft fur and sharp cheekbones that the Galra had. Somewhere in his mind he made a mental note to fell the rest of the prince’s face, wanting to know every inch of him. Lotor moved his one hand to the back of Lance’s neck and the other at his waist.

After a few seconds they broke away, breathing heavier than usual. Lance could feel a smile spreading across his face and loved that he could see Lotor’s smile that showed his fangs. It was the best Lance felt in a long time and he wanted more.

“Bet we have a good enough reason to that do it again.” Lance said slyly. Lotor groaned and pulled Lance towards him again.  
__________________________________________

It was a few days later that Allura called everyone to the bridge, stating that they were needed for a mission. When entering the room, Lance saw the team give the both of them glares. He also spotted Keith who looked to have seen better days with the way he held himself.

They got close enough to the group to hear details of their mission, but not to close that a fight would break out. Coran raced to the control console, pulling up a map to a ship. “This is the ship we will infiltrate for information that the Blade said will be important to taking down the Empire further.” Coran said, twirling his mustache.

“It looks to be one of Haggar’s ships. Probably one with her more confidential projects.” Lotor said. Allura sent a glare his way, but didn’t outright say anything to dismiss what the Galra said.

“If it is her ship, than we can hinder her progress by taking down the ship after gather information.” Pidge said.

“The Blade mentioned that they would rather have the mission be a slip in and out. That it would be better in the long run to leave the ship alone until they can figure out a way to destroy it without leaving a trail back to us.” Shiro said. He ran his non metal hand through his hair, clearly stressed.

“But did they say that if it wasn’t possible to be secretive, that we were allowed to destroy the ship?” Keith asked, looking at everyone for their reaction. Both Allura and Shiro nodded yes.

“So who will be assigned on this mission?” Lance asked.

“It’s gonna be you and Keith. You’ll be needing Keith to gain access onto a ship that might be holding secret experiments. Once you’re in there, Lance will take lead.” Allura said. Her voice didn’t betray anything that would suggest she was mad for Lance watching over Lotor.

He nodded and spoke up once more. “I’ll take Lotor with me in case that Keith won’t be able to get us into the ship. Who knows if the ship will accept his DNA if it’s coded to keep out certain people. The possibility that somebody could enter the ship with full access to the experiment is not something Haggar would risk.”

Silence swept through the room. The open mouth stares from Hunk, Pidge and Coran was something that Lance expected, but the chilling glares from Allura and Keith made him want to hide behind Lotor. The only one who seemed to be open to the new change was Shiro. He gave Lance a look that calmed him enough not to run to Lotor.

“It’s better to be prepared in these kinds of situation. Lance you take Keith and Lotor and we’ll see if you have to resort to using Lotor.” Shiro said, leaving no room from any debate from the others.

“Yes commander.” They all mumbled, which in turn made Shiro sigh.

“Again, quit calling me commander.”

It a took a few minutes afterwards to talk about what they would be looking for in terms of information. Then the three of them went down to the lions. Lotor joined Lance on the Blue Lion. She graciously accepted Lotor, even purred at the subtle acts of affection that Lotor did before they took off.

The ship was a distance away, leaving time for conversation to spring up. Lance could hear from his helmet that Allura choose to talk to Keith over him. He forced his feelings of being inadequate down, not wanting to cry in front of Lotor for any reason.

Still he let the tall Galra rub soothing patterns onto his back. 

When arriving at the ship, they landed the lion near the entrance. Lance provided Lotor with a suit and helmet that the castle had and they joined Keith who was waiting. Keith went over to the scanner and put his hand up to it. It took a few seconds to analyze the print before saying it rejected the print for not being on the data base.

As Keith scowled at the scanner, Lotor went up to it and put his hand up to it. It readily accepted the print and opened up the door. They all crowded into a hall, waiting for the door to close to let them take off their helmets.

When Lotor took his helmet off, Lance swore he could feel himself falling harder for the prince. The slightly messed up hair, looked even better than when it was brushed in the morning. When he snapped out of his haze, he caught Lotor’s smirk that had a knowing edge to it. 

“Don’t even say it. I know I was staring.” Lance said, giving Lotor a light push away. Still the Galra had the knowing smirk as they moved forward.

With Lotor guiding them through the ship to the main computer, they got there a lot quicker than what Allura predicted. Lance went to the computer with a drive in his hand and inserted it into the computer. Immediately it started to download information. Lance felt relief spread through his body and the tension just drain out of his body.

It didn’t take long for the drive to download what information they needed. Making their way out of the room, they were met with four guards doing their rounds. All of them stood still in shock and then Keith made the first move.

A fight broke out between the two groups. Keith took on two of the guards while both Lance and Lotor took on the remaining two together. With the combination of Lance’s bayard and Lotor’s sword, the guards were taken down quickly. When Lance looked over at Keith, his blood froze at the sight.

One of the guards was grabbing for a gun that he had at his hip and was taking aim at Keith who was facing away from it. Lance wanted to shout a warning to his teammate, but with fear coursing through his body, taking control of everything, he couldn’t do a thing.

And then what happened next stopped him completely.

Lotor moved in front of the gun’s range just as the guard took a shot. Before anybody could react, Lotor was falling down. As Keith looked behind for the source of the noise, Lance felt his body give away. When he hit the floor, he crawled towards Lotor. He didn’t see Keith’s shocked face nor the next action was to take down the remaining guards. All he could focus on was getting to Lotor.

He reached him and saw where the shot landed. Lance could feel the blood sticking to his hands as he put them on the wound, but he didn’t pay attention to that. All that mattered was the shot hit Lotor in the chest. He could see into the hole and he saw what must be lungs for Galra. There was no way the prince could survive an injury like that with the distance between the ship and castle.

He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Forcing them back, Lance made a pitiful attempt to try and cover the wound with his hands. The colour of the blood stained his hands something close to mahogany as it kept pouring out.

“No no no no no no no. You can’t leave me like this, I expected you to live longer than this.” Lance said, letting everything bubble out. Lotor gave a weak smile and it made Lance feel worse at the prospect of it being the last one he saw.

“I’m sorry I worried you. I would never do that to you if it meant seeing you close to tears.” Lotor said, weakly taking in a breath. Lance could see in the hole that lung was struggling to take in the air while being filled with blood.

“Please don’t die. I need you. You’ve been the greatest thing I’ve had to come into my life since finding Blue. Please don’t die like this.” Lance said, feeling his tears swell up. They blurred his vision slightly and he choked back a sob.

“I wish I could say I won’t die, but this lung would be disagreeing.” Lotor said with a weak chuckle. He then started to cough and was left with blood crawling out of his mouth. “ I want you to listen though. Can you do that?”

Lance nodded furiously, his vision still blurred slightly. “I want you to take my body back to the castle and force your team to go to the planet that you lived on to bury my body. If I know Allura’s fighting spirit, then the Empire will be taken down quick enough to return you home. I want you to be able to visit me whenever you feel.”

“But what if they don’t do that? What if I’m forced to bury you on an unknown planet?” Lance said quickly, tears close to falling.

“I’m sure Allura will listen. It is part of our culture to be buried to those who we loved dearly in our life. She respects us enough for that.” Lotor said before coughing up more blood.

“Then I’ll do this for you.” Lance said quiet. He pressed his lips against Lotor’s. It wasn’t a perfect kiss with blood staining both their lips and Lotor not having enough strength to kiss back. But it was enough for Lance. For it to be their goodbye kiss.

With his last breath, Lotor gave Lance a smile that finally made the paladin breakdown in tears. It was the smile that would show his fangs, too caught up in happiness to care about if his fangs were showing. Lance cradled the Galra’s body in his arms, grief taking over his mind.

He had forgotten Keith until he felt somebody trying to drag him towards the exit. Mustering up the last of his strength, Lance put Lotor’s body over his shoulder. He felt the weight lessen a bit when Keith took the legs from behind. They quickly made it back to the lions. In the back of his mind he felt Blue’s concern about what happened and about him. It took everything in him not to let himself fall to the floor.

Lance made Keith go to his Lion before dragging Lotor’s body into Blue. His lion could only rumble her sincerious apologies as Lance gently laid the Galra near his chair. Through the line he could hear Keith telling them what happened. He turned the line off, not wanting to hear his teammates giving their apologies to him. In his heart he knew they would now call the prince a hero for saving one of them like this.

The silence without Lotor humming or trying to get Lance to laugh was the worst thing he ever had to go through. He knew it was only a few days that they were together, but still something felt empty in his heart at the fact that the tall Galra was not there to treat him like he was precious. He would never hear the soft laugh. Never feel the soft fur on his face. Never see the fluttering his odd freckles nor the way his eyes would having the knowing edge to him when Lance wanted attention. He would never have any of those moments again, forced to relive them in the memories he had.

When arriving back at the Castle, Allura was the first person he saw. Her face was so forlorn and it took everything in him not to throw a fit. He shuffled up to her with Lotor’s body over his shoulder, standing tall.

“I want to take him to Earth to be properly buried. He wanted me to do so and said you would respect his wishes to do so according to his culture. I don’t care what you have to do to get there, I want to bury him there.” Lance said. His voice didn’t waver and he didn’t feel another round of tears making an unexpected appearance. 

Allura’s form wavered, most likely wanting to say that it was a ridiculous request during a fragile time in the war. Then Keith went up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, glaring up at her. Her resolved went away completely as she sighed.

“Coran we’ll be taking a quick detour.”  
________________________________________

When arriving to Earth, Lance insisted that they land near his home so he would be able to visit the grave when he returned home. He only allowed Shiro and Keith to come with him to help him dig out a grave. It didn’t take long between the three of them and soon, as gently as they could, they put Lotor into his grave.

Lance insisted that he stay behind to say something private to Lotor. Shiro nodded, understanding what his teammate needed to do. Keith only lingered for a second to give a hug. Lance let him do it for a few moments before silently pushing the other boy away.

In the silence he wanted to say so many things, but couldn’t find the voice to do so. All he could manage was to sit in front of the grave and say in the quietest voice had “Don’t worry about me wherever you are Lotor. I’ll be sure to take down your father’s legacy in your place. You deserve that much after everything.”

Then he stood up. Before he could leave the grave, he felt the wind blow through his hair. In his mind he imagined Lotor running his fingers through his hair and telling him for the millionth time that he had the softest hair he's ever touched.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote another fic for these two and boy is it angsty. I also couldn't help put in a small animorphs reference. I figured it would be a series that Pidge and Lance would bond over, especially after being dragged into the events on the show. Kudos to those who can spot it.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the fic though :D


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